Shoe for grain-drills



(No Model.)

0. T. GRATTAN. SHOE FOR GRAIN DRILLS' No. 592,776. Patented Nov. 2, 1 897.

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1&2; Jfforney NITED STATES ATENT rrrcn.

ORLANDO T. GRATTAN, OFELKTON, SOUTH DAKOTA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- IIALF TO CHARLES E. WEBBER, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA.

SHOE FOR GRAIN-DRILLS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 592,776, dated November 2, 1897. Application filed June 25, 1897. Serial No. 642,234. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ORLANDO T. GRATTAN, of Elkton, in the county of Brookings and State of South Dakota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shoes for Grain-Drills, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvement of the shoes used in connection with the spouts of grain-drills and other machines in the class of seeders and planters, whereby the shoes are made more durable and more readily placed and removed than when of ordinary construction.

The principal object of the improvement is to provide a shoe that is formed, preferably, of a single piece of metal and adapted to be attached to a spout and to drag-irons in a manner that will permit of its ready removal and replacement.

My improvements are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 shows the shoe and the lower portion of the spout in side elevation; Fig. 2, an elevation from the rear or right of Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a top view; Fig. 4, a portion of the blank used in forming such shoe; Fig. 5, a side elevation of a modified construction, and Fig. 6 a top view of the same.

In the drawings, 1 designates a portion of a spout commonly used in connection with a grain-drill or like machine, to which the rear end of the. shoe is attached, and 2 the dragirons carrying the forward end of the shoe. Ordinarily the shoe is composed of two plates welded together along their lower edges and at the front, leaving the upper rear portion and end open to receive a lower flattened portion of the spout, to which the shoe is riveted or bolted, and the forward portion is riveted or bolted to drag-irons. When so constructed and secured, it is a matter of considerable labor and trouble to remove and replace the shoe, as is often necessary when the cutting edge becomes too much worn or the shoe from other causes is unfitted for use.

To simplify the construction and render the shoe much easier of removal and replacement is the chief object of the present improvement. plete article, having formed upon it a short shank adapted to be screwed onto the spout To this end I make the shoe a comor attached to it in some equivalent manner, and so avoid the use of rivets or bolts for making the connection, and provide for bolting the forward end to the drag-irons in the usual way. I prefer to form the shoe of a continuous piece of sheet-steel,which may be done by the use of a blank of about the shape indicated in Fig. 4. The body 3 of the shoe is preferably about one -fourth to threeeighths of an inch thick and sharpened along its lower edge,while the rear portion may be made much thinner, so as to be easily bent to form the circular socket for the spout and be of sufficient strength and rigidity for practical use. To provide an opening for the discharge of grain and at the same time to provide means for attaching a drag-chain, the blank before it is bent may be out in about the manner indicated by the lines 4 and 5, and the lower portion 6 then removed by a cut on the horizontal line 7, thereby leaving a tongue adapted to be bent to forma hook 8 for attaching a drag-chain. The rear edge 9 of the blank may have an inclination of about forty-five degrees from the base-line, and when bent around to form the tubular socket 10 will lie at a corresponding forward inclination, as shown by the dotted line 11, and may then be welded to the body of the blank. The upper portion of the socket thus formed is tapped to screw onto the threaded lower end, of a spout, as indicated in the drawings, and the forward end is provided with holes 12, through which bolts 13 may be passed for attaching it to the drag-irons 2. An opening 14 is left at the rear of the shoe by the bending up of the tongue in forming the hook 8 and communicates with the hollow socket and spout for discharging grain.

An alternative construction is shown in Figs. 5 and 6, which represent ashoe formed of a single plate having its rear end split and the branches bent to form the spout-socket, with flanges 15 at the rear adapted to be bolted or riveted together. In this instance, as in the former, a downward tongue may be provided which can be bent to form a hook for a drag-chain. The shoe in this instance may be connected to the spout by screwing it on, as in the other form of construction, or by clamping it on by means of the flanges 15 and bolts 16, so thatin either case it may be easily attached or removed. Other alternative or modified forms of construction may be used to produce a shoe having the characteristics of the improvements sought to be protected herein and adapted to be used in the same way, while differing somewhat in appearance and details of construction. Therefore I do not wish to confine my protection to the exact forms shown or the exact modes of construction described, but claim such variations as fall within the scope and plan of the invention.

lVhat I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A shoe for a grain-drill or like machine, comprising body and socket portions, the latter being screw-threaded for attaching it to a grain-spout, substantially as set forth.

2. A shoe for a grain-drill or like machine, formed of a continuous body of metal bent at the rear end to constitute a socket and having a tongue out from the rear side of the socket to form a hook for a drag-chain, substantially as set forth.

3. As an article of manufacture, a graindrill shoe composed of a continuous piece of metal having its rear portion bent to form a socket for detachably connecting it to a spout and its forward portion arranged to be detachably connected to drag-irons, substantially as set forth.

a. A shoe, for a grain-drill or like machine, consisting of a body of metal having its rear portion bent to form a socket for detachably but operatively connecting it to a spout, and its forward portion adapted to be detachably connected to drag-irons, substantially as set forth. 7

5. A shoe, for a grain-drill or like machine, consisting of a plate of metal adapted to have its forward end connected to drag-bars, and having its rear portion suitably cutaway and bent upon itself to form a socket open at both ends for attaching it to a grain-spout and providin g the outlet for the grain at the rear of the shoe, substantially as set forth.

6. A shoe, for a grain-drill or like machine, consisting of a metal body having a tubular socket formed by bending its rear portion, or portions, for operatively connecting it to a grain-spout and providing a channel for the discharge of grain, substantially as set forth.

7. In a grain-drill or like machine, the combination with drag-bars and a grain-spout, of a shoe formed of a body of metal having its rear portion bent to form a socket whereby it is detachably connected to the grain-spout, and having its forward end detachably secured to the drag-bars, substantially as set forth.

8. A shoe, for a grain-drill or like machine, comprising body and socket portions, the latter being provided with flanges for clamping the shoe detaehably to a grain-spout, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 17th day of June, 1897.

J. I. ALEXANDER, J. O. ALEXANDER. 

